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mouth. “So many things to teach you.” Increasing the pressure of his lips on her, he slowly slid his hand back between her legs.
“Ross,” she said breathlessly, “I want you so much.”
“Soon, Brown Eyes,” he replied. “Very soon.”
His fingers found their destination, circling the entrance to her body. Finding her wet heat, he groaned with pleasure against her breast. Sliding two fingers into her, he was aware of the fact that the intensity of his touch was driving her ever closer to yet another orgasm.
“Now,” she repeated and Ross grinned to himself. His sweet little innocent was turning into a serious wildcat in bed. He relished her demands and found himself caught up in the heat of the moment as well.
Adding another finger to the first two, Ross concentrated on stretching her. She was tight as a virgin and he knew it was bound to be a bit painful for her in spite of his attempts to ease her. She arched her back as his fingers moved in and out of her with increasing speed. He relished the feeling of her body pushing toward his movements.
“More.” She tugged at his wrist, apparently desperate to feel his cock inside her and not just his fingers. “Please, Ross, I need you. Now.”
“Dammit, Jules. You’re too tight. We have to take this slow.”
“No. I can’t wait anymore,” she cried. “Now. Ross, now!”
“Damn you.” Crawling over her, he placed his erection at her opening. He’d entered only a fraction of an inch before freezing.
“Condom,” he muttered, amazed at how close he was to entering her without protection. Never had he lost his head so completely. He’d never had sex without a condom in his life.
“Now,” she cried. “God, Ross, please. It’s okay.”
Her answer caught him off guard. There was nothing he wanted so much as to take her right then, skin to skin. However, one of them needed to keep a level head. Indecision kept him still, the head of his cock just inside her, the desire to slam into her so overpowering he felt light-headed. Passion was clearly winning, overriding common
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sense. Gritting his teeth, he started to pull out, but Julia quickly wrapped her legs around his waist, tight as a vise.
“Jules,” he panted, grasping at one last attempt at sanity.
“Now,” she whispered, her legs holding him locked in place. “I want to feel you. Only you.”
The battle lost, Ross gave in, his craving to feel her without the obstruction of a condom obliterating his own willpower.
In spite of her desperate pleas and the tightening of her thighs about him, Ross reined in his need enough to slow his entrance. Every nerve in his body demanded release and it was all he could do not to pound into her tight, hot body in one hard thrust. Each inch he penetrated was pure torture—heaven and hell combined. Her strained, panting breaths didn’t penetrate his consciousness until he finally filled her completely. Sweat dripped from his brow onto her cheek as he hissed, “Does it hurt?”
“Yes,” she cried, through clenched teeth. “Move. I need more.”
Ross felt the demons he’d kept at bay until now released full force. With only a short retreat, he returned to fully impale her to the hilt. He stopped at the sound of her screams, worried he’d harmed her before realizing she was coming again with a strength he’d never thought possible. The power of her orgasm drove him over the edge, milking the seed from his cock with an almost-painful grip.
“Jesus,” he groaned, amazed by his sudden loss of control. He prided himself on being a man who could ride a woman all night, but his brown-eyed girl had driven him to orgasm with just one thrust. Something that hadn’t happened to him since he was a damned teenager. Then another truth hit him like a brick to the head, reality plummeting him to earth. He’d intended to pull out before he came.
“Oh hell, angel,” he muttered. “No condom. Jules, please tell me you’re on the pill.”
When she didn’t reply right away, he continued, “I’m so sorry. I’ve never had unprotected sex before, Jules. I swear it. Christ, I can’t believe I didn’t use a condom. I’ll take care of you, sweetheart. I swear it. No matter what happens I will always take care of you.”
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“Ross,” she said, interrupting his self-deprecation, “it’s okay. I’m on the pill.”
“You are?”
“Yes,” she answered, clearly embarrassed by the conversation. “My, um, periods were pretty painful—cramps and all that. My doctor suggested birth-control pills. She said they would help and, well, they did.” Just when Ross thought she couldn’t blush any deeper, she proved him wrong. After what they’d just experienced together, he was floored by the fact she could still turn deep red by simply saying the word “period” to him.
“Christ, Brown Eyes, you’re killing me.”
“I am?” she asked quietly, still unable to meet his eyes.
“Look at me.” He tilted her face up to his. “I’m glad you’re on the pill, but I still owe you an apology. I’m the more experienced partner here and I put you at risk. I swear to you I’m clean.”
“Ross,” Julia interrupted, “it’s not like I gave you much choice.”
“Still, I’ve never been so careless…or so quick. I haven’t come that fast since I was fifteen,” he added, shaking his head in disbelief.
Julia laughed. “Must be me,” she teased. “I’m so irresistible, you know.”
“Is that right? You should have warned me.” He tickled her as she giggled uncontrollably. “All right, woman,” he said, “it’s time to get serious. We have research to do.”
“Research,” she repeated with mock seriousness. “How could I forget? What did you have in mind?” Her deep brown eyes sparkled in the firelight. With the sheet pulled loosely around her and her long hair in disarray on the pillow, Ross could only stare—
stunned speechless, taken aback by her tousled, well-loved look. His best friend had never looked so beautiful or so eager.
“What?” she asked coyly.
“You really are irresistible,” he said, the words escaping his lips without a thought.
“I was kidding, Ross.” She rolled her eyes, but her genuine smile betrayed her pleasure at his words.
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Shaking his head, Ross reached for her, unable to resist her girlish delight at his simple praise. She was obviously starved for appreciation and attention and he fully intended to rectify that oversight, starting tonight. However, his unintentional slips were going to give him away before he was ready to reveal his true feelings. He needed to carefully guard his intentions. Julia needed time. Time for her to become accustomed to having him in her bed as a lover as well as in her life as a friend.
“Up,” he ordered, pointing toward the bathroom. “Time for another first.”
“Oh?”
“That is unless you’ve already been skinny-dipping in a Jacuzzi with an editor with a gigantic hard-on.”
Tapping her lips with one finger, Julia looked as if she were trying to recollect such an event. “Hmm.” Ticking off the list on her fingers, she asked, “Skinny-dipping, Jacuzzi and horny editor—all of them together, not separate, right?”
“Let me put it this way, Brown Eyes,” Ross said, hands on his hips as he glared down at her from the side of the bed. “I find I enjoy being your first in all things, editorially and sexually, so maybe you shouldn’t try too hard to remember.”
“Oh.” Julia giggled. “So I should let you play caveman while I pretend to be a chaste virgin and let you do all sorts of unspeakable things to me?”
“Now you’re getting it.” Reaching down, he picked her up.
“Ross,” she cried, swatting at him, “put me down. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“Jules,” Ross berated, “if you make one more ridiculous comment about your weight, I’ll turn you over my knee again. I bench press more than you’ll ever weigh at the gym every day.”
“But—”
“No buts,” he interrupted, carrying her across the room to the bathroom. “Time for a nice hot soak. You must be sore.”
“Not really.” She squirmed slightly and he sensed she was still uncomfortable with her nudity in his presence. He also suspected she was feeling painful twinges in unfamiliar places. A long, hot bath was just what she needed. 42
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As he set her down, she reached for a towel, only to have him lightly swat her hand away.
“No,” he said firmly. “No hiding. Not from me, not here. I like looking at you.”
Julia blushed. “I like looking at you too.”
At her words, his already-rejuvenating erection rose to nearly full mast. Once the tub was filled, Ross added some soaking salts and turned on the jets before lifting Julia up and over the rim to place her on one of the benches.
“Ah,” she breathed, sliding down deeper in the hot water, “this is heavenly.”
Joining her, Ross had to agree.
After years of friendship, the two were able to sit in companionable silence without feeling uncomfortable. Ross watched as Julia’s peaceful face lost some of its relaxed bliss. Her eyebrows lowered and the crease that often came between them when she was tense or worried made an appearance.
That didn’t take long
. He had expected her to begin to question the wisdom of their actions long before now, and forced himself to let her form her questions and concerns. He was ready to set her mind at ease. He’d plotted for weeks about this adventure and he was determined to have his own way. Ross was going to overcome her fear of loss to conquer her heart and claim it as his own. This was the battle of his life and Ross had no intention of surrendering or retreating. Before they left this cabin, it was her white flag he expected to see on the horizon. Trying to appear relaxed, Ross closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the edge of the tub. He didn’t have long to wait.
“What happens when we leave here?” she asked.
Ross opened his eyes, but didn’t lift his head. “Here?”
“The cabin.”
“What do you want to happen?” he asked, throwing the ball back into her court.
“I—I don’t know,” she stuttered. No doubt she was shocked he was leaving it up to her. He rarely gave a woman the upper hand in his liasons and Julia knew it.
“I mean, I can’t live without you as my editor or my friend,” she continued. “If what we’re doing here is going to jeopardize that, I want to stop right now.”
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“Jules, I will always be your friend, I promise you that, but I have every intention of riding this train to the end. There will be no stopping along the way for cold feet.”
“Ross, we’re both adults. You know as well as I do sex changes things, complicates them. I know the relationships you’ve had, especially lately, are fairly casual, but even you have to admit, when they ended, everything ended. You don’t see any of your exgirlfriends, period—not as friends, not even as acquaintances. I don’t want this to continue if we can’t go back to the way things were. I would hate not having you in my life anymore.”
“Oh, Jules. What we do here isn’t going to affect our friendship. I’m not sure when you started seeing me as such a heartless prick, but you must know after all these years I’d rather cut off my left arm than hurt you. Besides, there is one major difference between you and the other women in my past that you seem to keep forgetting.”
“What’s that?” Julia asked, attempting to move away from him on the bench. Ross halted her escape by wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her toward him.
He grinned as he recalled her earlier comments. “What did you call them?” he teased. “Oh yeah, the Miss America brigade. Jules, I was never best friends with any of them. Hell, I was never even friends with them.”
“That doesn’t seem like something to brag about.” Her dry words were so familiar, Ross laughed.
“Besides, you’re forgetting something important.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“We’ve already done the deed, Brown Eyes, and there’s no taking it back.”
Sighing, she leaned against his arm and he felt some of the tension leave her. Testing the water, he added, “Are you saying you would want to see this evolve into a real relationship?”
His answer was painfully apparent as Julia blanched.
“R-real relationship?” She glanced away from him. “Don’t be silly.”
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Well, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to rush into a relationship with a confirmed bachelor such as himself. Clearly, he had a lot of work to do to convince Julia he was sincere. While he considered their long-term friendship a blessing, he’d be a fool not to realize it was a detriment as well. Julia knew him better than anyone in the world—
his parents included. She knew that nowadays he never stayed with the same woman for more than a month. His last long-term relationship had been with Bridget and that ended over four years ago.
“Relax, Jules,” he said quickly. “I know how you feel about relationships. That’s not what I’m pushing for.” The lie tasted bitter on his tongue and his temper flared briefly at her obvious relief.
“So, we’ll just go back to being friends after this,” she said without question, as if trying to picture the end of this brief romantic interlude in a few days when the snow began to melt.
Unwilling to risk putting a deadline on the most incredible sex of his life, Ross shook his head. “Sweetheart, the barn door is open and the cow’s not coming back. You can’t expect to give me only a sample of all the sweetness you have to offer and then not allow me to gorge myself at the feast.”
“Good God.” Julia laughed. “I have no idea what you just said.”
Ross joined in her laughter. “I’m not finished fucking you yet.”
Julia winced at his crude comment before asking, “So that’s what this is? Fucking?”
Reaching over, Ross pulled her over to him, positioning her legs on either side of his hips until she was straddling him. Placing his erection at her warm opening, he gently prodded before adding enigmatically, “Researching.”